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#1
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Proper way of mixing sea salt
Ok for you sps lovers out there, what is your way of mixing salt water. I was informed that the elements in the bag or bucket is not uniform mixed, being that heavier stuff tend to sink to the bottom of the container, so shaking the bucket to mix the stuff inside before scooping it out is a prefer way of making the salt H2O.
I didn't know about this and have been always scooping the salt from the top but haven't experinced any problem so far. Oh another thing, do you guys add the salt to water or add water to the salt, I've been told to add salt to water but couldn't find any reason to justify this is being a prefer way. |
#2
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I personally just mix the salt into a 55 gallon container of water, then let it mix for 48 hours with a pump and heater. Check the salinity and do my water change. I know people whom also just mix it in a 5 gallon bucket then change the water, but they are also FO tanks.
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#3
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You need to add salt to the water, and even then you don't want to dump too much in at one time. If you add water to the salt, then it is possible for the water to get supersaturated and for calcium carbonate to precipitate out.
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#4
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I mix it for about 6 hours and make sure the temp is similiar. No issues ever here.
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#5
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Ok but you guys shake the bag or the container before scooping it out?
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#6
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Why would you shake it?I just throw a pump in and toss in a scoop of salt. After a few, I wait a minute or so to let it dissolve and throw in more.
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#7
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Because sea salt are not uniform in size, by graviitational force the bigger or the heavier elements tend to settle in the bottom of container in my case a 160 gal IO bucket, and the smaller or lighter elements tend to stay on the top, overtime the water chemistry in the tank becomes inbalanced.
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#8
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Ive never shaken my salt buckets(always reefcrystals 160 gl buckets) nor noticed any difference in the first tot he last part of the bucket and I have tested. Thats not so say I couldnt see it making a difference, I just have never noticed any.
I use a mag 36 with a 1/4" venturi hooked up to it in a 44 gallon brute. The water is spinning and bubbling hard as I pour the salt in. I let it spin and bubble for a couple hours at most and its good to go......... testing no different on the majors than if I let it spin for 24+ hours |
#9
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Also add salt to my water. And let it mix for 24 hrs and test alk and SG. And do my WC.
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#10
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Nope, I do not shake the bucket or bag of salt. I have a hard enough time just moving the 200 gallon bucket worth of Topic Marin Salt!!!
I have a 65 gallon vat that I mix the saltwater in with a maxi jet 1200 and a 250W heater. I add the salt to the RO water up to the desired salinity which can take a few hours and then let it sit for at least another 12 hours, retest the salinity, and then do the actual water change. I also have left over water that I don't use and I continue to mix it with the maxi jet and will reheat it when I'm ready for another water change the following week.
__________________
Sara Proud Member of CMAS & Rockford Reefers |
#11
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your supposed to mix your salt in whatever size the container is. So if you get a 50g bag, mix 50g. if you have a 160g bucket mix 160g and so on.
Reason is as the OP stated there are various different minerals and metals in the salt that can settle to the bottom or top as the salt is shipped. So if you only use a small amount of salt at a time(say 10g out a 160g bucket) you might be getting high amounts of more toxic items and much less amounts of good stuff. BUT if you mix it all at once you don't get that unevenness from batch to batch. The correct thing to do is mix all your salt at once and use the water as needed keeping it moving, air rated and stored in a cool dark place until you need it. But almost no one ever does this, and very few have seen any ill effects from not doing it. |
#12
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Yeah, I was told to get the paint mixer from the Home Depot and attach to a eletric drill, that way you can uniformly mix the salt each time when using it.
EnderG60 is correct about using the whole 160 gal bucket all at once. only wish I have a 1600 gal tank to perform a 10% WC. But then again who makes 160 gal vats, can't justfy a 180 tank just to make up sea water. |
#13
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I use 2 tunze 6200's on the multicontroller and mix up my salt in a starphire glass tank.
Lmao |
#14
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Does any salt company state this? "shake before use"
I think this may be a case of us OCD reefers overthinking the situation..... lol Has anyone tested a batch from the top of a bucket vs. the bottom to see if there is actually a chemical difference? Even if it was observed once, how can it be seperated from test kit accuracy/precision? Is there even a visual difference? I never have noticed it. Even if there is sorting (which I believe there is of some sort), I have a hard time believing that salt crystal size is correlated to chemical composition. I would assume all the crystals are uniform in chemical composition, that would be a simple goal of the salt companies, otherwise they would put "shake before use' on the buckets.... which is difficult to say the least. Last edited by HBtank; 10/25/2007 at 02:02 PM. |
#15
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Quote:
And I AM clearly OCD..........but this topic hasnt grabbed my attention |
#16
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"your supposed to mix your salt in whatever size the container is. So if you get a 50g bag, mix 50g. if you have a 160g bucket mix 160g and so on"
You guys nuts, I've never ever mixed up the whole containers worth of salt at one time, nor have I ever shook, mixed, massaged, molested, nor baby talked the salt before mixing. Never had a problem with RC salt due to me not doing the above..... I call this myth BUSTED ... |
#17
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#18
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Some of the companies like Elos and Aquacraft refuse to package the salt bigger than 50 gal because of the reason mentioned above. I think Elos only makes 6 gal bag, no bigger but Jesse needs to chime in to confirm that.
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#19
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#20
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#21
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"Some of the companies like Elos and Aquacraft refuse to package the salt bigger than 50 gal"
I call that business strategy ...lol |
#22
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Just mix the stuff with a powerhead in a safe container and if needed put a heater in it. Oh no I didnt |
#23
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#24
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50 gal mix or 6 gal mix, are amount of salt per bag enough to make the respective amount of sea water in 1.026 salinity or 35 ppm.
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#25
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I have (heard )that one bucket from the next could be different,I Have had no prob with I/O orR/C.
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